Finding the Beat: Composers, Coordinators and the Stylebender Score

What if the rhythm of a fight became the rhythm of a film?

For Stylebender, the composer went to the source. They recorded Israel Adesanya’s punches and worked those strikes into the score, so the percussion in the film is built from the fighter’s own movement.

This WIFT NZ session goes behind the music and score with the Zoë McIntosh (Director), Arli Liberman (Composer) and Jenna Ackerman (Music Coordinator & Clearences), who walk through how the sound was made, how far they were willing to push it, and what it took to get there.

Clips from the film will be screened, so come ready to hear the punches for yourself.

Date: Wednesday 25th November
Time: Drinks from 6pm | Panel discussion 6:30pm - 8pm
Location: Aesium Music House - 26A Williamson Ave, Grey Lynn, Auckland

Free for WIFT & Aesium Members, $25 for non-members.

Drinks & nibbles provided.

Our Guests:

Zoë McIntosh
Zoë is an award-winning New Zealand director drawn to people living at the edges, and the humour and truth in how they live.

Her feature documentary Stylebender, about UFC champion Israel Adesanya, premiered at Tribeca, where it was nominated for Best Documentary and earned Zoë a nomination for Best New Documentary Director. Her short The World in Your Window won Best International Short at seven festivals and three Best Director awards. Her YWCA campaign won a Cannes Lions Young Director Award.

She recently completed Meet the Preppers for TVNZ. Other credits include You Chose This, a feature documentary for the New Zealand Film Commission, and long-form documentaries for Netflix, the BBC, SBS and MasterClass.

In development: feature documentaries about wilderness adventurer Miriam Lancewood and Olympic champion Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, and a psychological thriller set deep in the South Island.

She also mentors emerging filmmakers in New Zealand and internationally.

Arli Liberman
Arli Liberman is an award-winning screen composer, producer, and guitarist known for creating immersive music for film, television, multimedia, and live experiences.

With an unwavering dedication to his craft, Arli's approach to music serves as a transformative force that resonates both on and off the screen.

As a screen composer, Arli has worked on a wide range of films, including Sam Kelly's gang movie Savage, winning the 2021 APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award.

Jenna Ackerman
Jenna is a Tāmaki Makaurau based freelance music supervisor and coordinator and works full time as an Audio Post Assistant at Native Audio. With eight years of experience in music licensing and clearances across New Zealand, the US and the UK, she has worked on over 40 projects both as a coordinator at Mind Your Music, where she was in charge of clearances and licensing for Stylebender, and working independently. Passionate about how music and visuals interact, Jenna loves all things music and will happily talk your ear off about music licensing and creative soundtrack building